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Monday, April 9, 2012

Finding Maine’s Bigfoot

The state of Maine is comprised of approximately35,387 square miles. Most of this land consists of rugged and
unclaimed wilderness; with barely 10 percent of the state considered urban or
“civilized”. The remaining ninety percent of the state is heavily
forested and comprised of thousands of miles of spruce thickets, cedar swamps
and endless expanses of impenetrable woods were a man could walk for weeks and
never encounter any other sign of human existence. In fact, Maine was recently voted "Most Rural State".

Included within these vast expanses are twelve million unpopulated acres, in the
northern most part of the state, so remote and undisturbed, that many areas still
have not received proper naming conventions. There currently exist
unorganized townships in Maine, only identifiable by numerical classifications.
It is not uncommon, when exploring these remote sections of wilderness, to
identify were you are by saying you are in *T3 R10. (*Standing for Township and Range).

Within this largely unexplored wilderness, scientists hypothesize that potentially hundreds
of life forms exist that have yet to be identified. Though most of these
unnamed species of flora and fauna are certain to be plants, insects or perhaps
even a few small rodents, other professionals argue that something much larger, as yet undiscovered creature prowls in the dark Maine woods.

Throughout Maine’s past, many sighting
have occurred, by a large number of individuals, describing having seen a
creature that doesn’t easily fit into the standard confines of Maine flora and
fauna. These people, many from well-respected professional level backgrounds,
have reported seeing humanoid like creatures lurking in the Maine woods. All
descriptions seem to coincide, depicting a large, hairy animal with “humanlike”
characteristics and walking on two legs. Though given many names, including Ridge Monster, Durham Gorilla, Maine Mutant, Turner Beast, Greene Monster,
Leeds Loki, ultimately what locals are depicting is the infamous missing link
or more commonly named Bigfoot.

Over the years, many of these sightings
have been categorized and cataloged on various websites, in an attempt to
better understand the patterns and behaviors of these mysterious creatures.
Dating back to the original sightings made in the early 1800’s and consistently
reported up to present day, these reports provide valuable pieces to the
puzzle.

By retrieving, compiling and mapping this
online information, a pattern emerges and one can easily begin to
determine the Maine counties with the highest concentrations of reported Bigfoot
sightings. Through this review, it is not surprising to note that the areas of
the state with the largest human population densities seem to enjoy the highest
incidence of Bigfoot sightings. I conclude that this is likely because these
areas have more people exploring the neighboring woods and therefore increased
chances of an encounter. More remote and less populated areas of the state are
likely to harbor Bigfoot type creatures but because of low population densities they are never seen. The classic, if a tree falls in the forest and nobody is around
to hear it doesn’t make a sound!

Tracking Maine’s Bigfoot is not a task
for the faint hearted. Given the vast tracts of unpopulated wilderness that
exist, cryptozoological explorers will want to be proficient with a map and
compass and carry proper survival gear before venturing into the woods. Bigfoot explorers, interested in coming to Maine and tracking this elusive creature, are encouraged to drop me a comment on this post requesting additional information on specific areas to begin your search!

While visiting Maine, be sure to stop by and see the Cryptozoology Museum in Portland. It contains a large number of
interesting Bigfoot artifacts and even boasts an 8 foot tall Bigfoot replica
that is sure to impress. Please check the link provided above for times open
and admission pricing.

I got your tweet about the museum awhile back, it's definitely on the 'rainy day' list for this summer. As for bigfoot in the backyard, I hope to heck not. The boy is hooked on "Finding Bigfoot" (Animal Planet) and keeps letting these long-winded "AAHHHAWOOOOOOOOOO" noises out the back door. I can't imagine what he would do if something answered back.

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Steve Vose (AKA The Rabid Outdoorsman) is a Registered Maine Guide, outdoor writer, blogger, photographer and lover of Maine's woods and waters. Through his writing, he shares hunting, fishing & general sporting information with others passionate about the great outdoors. When able to find time in his hectic schedule, he even manages to do a little bit of guiding, where he takes great pride in introducing others to the rugged beauty of the Maine wilderness.